During Monday’s episode of “The Voice,” Blake Shelton paired up Kirk Jay and Colton Smith in the latest knockout round of Season 15. Kirk sang Brett Young’s “In Case You Didn’t Know” in front of the four reality TV coaches while Colton took on the classic tune “Lady Marmalade.” After Blake decided to advance Kirk to the live shows, Colton’s original coachJennifer Hudson swooped in to steal him back for her team. Read the coaches’ comments below.

“Colton, I paired you against Kirk because you’re really the only guy on my team that can step up to his level of that big, powerful vocal,” Blake noted when it was time to make his decision. “You guys musically are going in two different directions. Vocally, I knew this would be a tough one for both of you. Kirk, I just want you to know you deserve this and you’re special and I want you to embrace this moment and not be afraid of it. I gotta make my decision now. The winner of this knockout is Kirk.”

“I never wanted to let you go to begin with,” JHud told Colton after she used her final steal to keep him in the competition. “Your journey has never really been easy here, but nobody’s journey is ever easy. Nothing is ever a walk in the park. You don’t always have to be perfect.” Later, she explained further, “I stole Colton Smith because as his former coach, I know what he can do. Even when he had struggles when he was performing, that passion shined through. That’s a performer and he deserves to be here.”

In his “The Voice” live blog, our recapper John Benutty had this to say about the knockout: “Unfortunately for Colton he had a momentary loss of hearing during his performance that caused him to flub the lyrics during the last chorus, but the coaches were supportive and reminded him that it happens to every performer. Kirk was perfectly reserved and even from behind the piano managed to be engaging and emote the song appropriately. Kelly told Kirk that she’s impressed at how he shows a little bit more of himself each week and Adam predicted that he’d be in the finale.”